I've dipped my hands on English, Korean, and Japanese music. If you ask me an English singer you could never go wrong with, I'd say Taylor Swift. Korean? BTS and Blackpink. Japanese? Yoasobi. Now I'm about to venture into Chinese music. What's a Chinese song or singer you could never go wrong with.
I hate you so much with every fiber of my being since after you mention them, a certain song kept popping in my head that i can never remove....
Everyone has to know how to sing Teresa Teng's songs, no matter if you are of Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, Hong Kongese, or Vietnamese background. Everyone also has to know how to sing Fei Yu-ching's songs. You should also familiar with Jay Chou (Zhou Jielun), who has a huge variety of songs, but I don't like him. You should also be sort of familiar with Wu Bai's songs. Note these are Taiwanese. Wu Bai has the famous "Norwegian Forest," which has been adapted by many people, the most famous of which is by a woman (whose name I forgot but her version is the most played instead of the original). Mayday has surprisingly survived censorship, but has transitioned into pop songs instead of their rock origins. However, this is not a "boy band" but a regular band. Any other rock band you can just ignore because they have all been censored. You can find some of these punk or ska or visual kei bands still on YouTube. For solo artists, I prefer Taiwanese. Jolin Tsai is pretty good and fun. She has changed her style adapting to the times, so you can experience the trends in singing in Chinese language music. She also sings some songs that poke fun at women stereotypes. Her music videos are wacky like Lady Gaga. Show Lo is really amazing and pushes the limit of what he can do, but also follows trends. His music videos are fun. G.E.M. is a Hong Kong singer whose songs I don't really like (but she became famous for her adaption of the classic "Xi Huan Ni" song on a competition); she used to sing only in Cantonese, but with her focus in the mainland Chinese market, she has changed to Mandarin. But her older songs aren't that great, so don't bother with her older stuff. Her newer stuff is more polished and curated to follow pop trends. Her voice is amazing for ballads and singing. I wish she would do rock songs. For new-ish people in mainland China, Hua Chenyu is a popular (although it's now been 10 years), but he doesn't have a big discography. He is mostly known for adapting songs. He is in two really big variety shows as a permanent member, and one of the judges in a popular singing competition. He is well known for his rapping, but does quiet a few ballads. I actually recommend some of the singing competition shows because they do show older singers and new singers and what had been popular songs in the Asian sphere, many of which are important classics that the entire Asian sphere knows (led by Hong Kong and Taiwan and Japan). There have been a few boy bands but they didn't last as long and most have disbanded or are quiet, with a few doing a couple solo songs, but little activity. Off the top of my head, older ones can be Fahrenheit (Taiwanese, terrible but had one famous song), MIC Nan Tuan (I think these got censored eventually for promoting excess sex; they were sort of like a SHINEE but didn't really take off because the timing was not good). Rap artists like MC Hot Dog are pretty good, and does a lot of collaborations. The Taiwanese rappers are pretty good. I also recommend a group called G.U.T.S. which is a collaboration of very good individual rappers. You can find all their discography on You-Tube. The issue is in China lyrics are by law required to be reviewed and approved if they are to be sung publicly. This can limit interesting songs, leaving most with catchy beats and melodies but boring lyrics that aren't ballads. So I dislike a lot of songs from Mainland China which are just catchy beats and regurgitation. Or similar sad songs, and more regurgitation. The one thing with songs from mainland China, you will typically not encounter much stuff that involves rock music or melodies influenced by rock music. The influence of rock music is pretty low due to political efforts that "rock=bad". Most of the rap in China is mixed with another genre, so is more like hip hop. Rap is present in most songs as an accompaniment. So unfortunately I can only recommend mostly Taiwanese, but because many Taiwanese and Hong Kong singers have moved their focus into the mainland China market. Most Chinese singers haven't made it out of China if their original market was China. Oh, and ignore any of Kris Wu's rapping. /rolls eyes
Highly recommend all on this list! (Except for S.H.E. and Jay Chou; their songs are classic but I don't like them.)
I barely know S.H.E beside Ella but I have heard that they're a well-know group in China so I guess you really can't go wrong with them
Teresa Teng, she's a really well-known singer and her songs are pretty famous too! Like 甜蜜蜜, for example:
Lil Ghost, Xiao Zhan, Wang Yibo, Li Ronghao, Zhao Lusi(?) I mainly listen to playlists so I can't exactly pinpoint a specific singer
T-thats basically them.... I still remember my sister singing to it while I was sleeping and now everytime I hear it, it reminded me that I always acted like a teenage girl whose so into that drama. It also reminded me that I also been into watching barbie and any girl's activity because my sister has the only money to buy those and we were stuck to watching them. You just made me realize why haven't I turned into gay and be straight instead.